Contactless devices like contactless smartcards are being widely used for financial transactions, the most common of transactions being payments. Examples of such cards include Visa's PayWave, MasterCard's PayPass and American Express's Express Pay.
While usage of contactless devices such as smartcards seems to be growing, there is growing concern about security in usage of such devices. Generally, smartcards get activated by a reader when a user takes the smart card in proximity to a reader where the RF (radio frequency) antenna of the reader activates the RF antenna attached to the contactless device. In certain circumstances, it is possible that smartcards can get activated by a contactless reader in close proximity without the knowledge of user.
NFC technology allows for secure transactions by using a security element such as a SIM card, a secure flash card, or an embedded security controller. Devices with NFC technology or other such short range communication technologies integrated in mobile devices create a strong tie-up for the consumer with the specific mobile device company. For example, if we consider the case of a bank providing contactless access to several of its services via mobile phones, the users of such services need to have mobile phones from specific phone companies that the bank has tied up with.
Hence there is a need for a methodology where existing contactless infrastructure can be used to provide an environment where usage of contactless devices is secure and flexible. Further objects, features and advantages will become apparent from the following description, claims and drawings.